NE States

 

We are currently in Lancaster, PA. Just finished a week in Boston, then a week in NYC. It’s nice to have some slower weeks after some that are busier.

We are in Amish country and it's been very fascinating to look into a radical way of living.

The picture of us below is at an Amish home. Some interesting things we've learned:

-Amish don't use bikes, they can use the scooters seen in the picture.

-Obviously they don't use cars as well. They have buggies pulled by horse.

-The best American innovation in the last ten years that has helped the Amish has been the LED light bulb. They live 'off the grid' completely off of their own power (solar, propane, generators, batteries) so having a light bulb that takes a fraction of the amount of energy has been great for them.

-A big part of the reason for their not using cars and bicycles is due to their concern for maintaining their community. They want it to be difficult to travel far, so the majority of their dealings is with their neighbors and local community. They support each other significantly.

-The Amish (at least in this area) are all pretty wealthy. They have large homes a lot of land.

-They work very hard, living off the land, waking up most days at 4:30am.

-Their homes and yards are beautifully kept. I don't think I've ever been anywhere as clean and beautiful as this area.

-They are similar to a lot of other protestant churches where their different congregations will have slightly different interpretations of the Bible.

-They have A LOT of rules to follow. Reminds me of Mormonism at times. I can understand how you would have to be careful to not forget the principle of the law, not just focusing on the letter of the law.

-They generally have 3 languages they use: Pennsylvania Dutch is their main language they use with each other, they learn English to be able to speak with other locals. Their church services are in German. They only read the Bible in German (the language they generally understand the least).

This was at Burger Box in New Paltz, NY. Best burgers we've had so far on our road trip. This is owned by a husband and wife that are also the only chefs at the place. It's not very big and the orders are slow but it was AMAZING. The pretzel bites and beer cheese were also insane. 

After finishing NYC most of the kids responded that their favorite activity was the broadways. We saw Wicked and Hamilton. We've been hearing the songs quite frequently over the past few months. 

The Museum of Natural History was a pleasure. Jenny, Trevor, Bethany and I visited here in January. I could spend DAYS here. So much biology, evolution and history in this museum. It was hard for me to shut up at times with the kids. 😂

Central Park was beautiful as always. 

Statue of Liberty. It was wet and windy but we went and it was a blast! I always enjoy learning about the early days of our country. One thing that stood out to me at the museum was showing a newspaper article at the time that pointed out the irony of the statue of liberty being commemorated and erected while the majority of the country still did NOT have the liberty to vote. For me, it just goes to show that we can celebrate our wins while still continuing to improve. I really love idea meritocracy and capitalism. 

The 9/11 Museum was heavy. Very heavy, but so well done. Was an incredible experience to go through. 

WICKED! This was enjoyable for all of us. Funny and wonderful.

I was able to meet up with a couple clients (brothers in a dental practice) and it was an absolute pleasure to get lunch and meet in person. 

Grand Central Station. 

We were able to make a quick stop at Walden Pond when we were in the area. It was fun to visit here after going through Louisa May Alcott's home and learning about her family's friendship with Henry David Thoreau. 

A beautiful lookout on a hike in Lancaster.

It has been truly an incredible experience to live a more minimalistic lifestyle. Everything we 'own' is in a trailer. It has required us to not get too attached to things. As we've been around Amish this week, it's made us realize how we have some similar desires to live a more simple lifestyle with less current life influence. We try to limit electronics, we don't watch TV or the news, we value our family time and learning and growing together. 

FYI: we decided not to come home to Utah for Christmas this year. This will be the first time for Jenny and I since our missions, not being home with familiy for Christmas. We will be staying in our cabin in Georgia for about 6-7 weeks during Thanksgiving and Christmas. We are looking forward to some time in a home we can decorate, have a tree, eat some good home cooking, etc. 

Cabin O' Pines: Orr Minnesota

My favorite week so far! I told Jenny that this place was my ideal location for a vacation. Trees, pines, aspens, birches, birds, cool weather, all outdoor stuff. It was great. 

They even had an old restored sauna! It was really cool. Jenny and I enjoyed a couple sessions. 

 

Check out that biceps vein! I'm really proud of both of us for pushing hard in our workouts while being on the road. 

Voyageurs National Park was a really beautiful place. 

We all really enjoyed this 3-4 mile hike. Beautiful trees, lookouts and amazing cool weather. 

In this same area below, we also discovered wild blueberries. They very much reminded me of my dad's blueberry pies because they were very small. I looked up Wyman's blueberries and found that they were wild blueberries, just like the ones we were picking and eating. 

We took a boat tour at the Rainy Lake Visitor's Center at Voyageurs. It was great to experience, seeing that almost all of the national park is only accessible by boat. 

As we were getting on board, the captain told me to bring the kids up to the captain's deck and he'd show them around his quarters. They loved it. Emmett returned several times to update the captain on his thoughts on life. 

One of the days we rented a pontoon boat and spent the day on Pelican Lake (the lake we were staying at). 

There's just something about sunsets on water. 

The kids are constantly playing with other kids they meet. At one point (pictured below) they spent 4 hours playing a board game with some other kids. Claire later told me that the other kids argued and fought a lot (and the dad got mad at him). She said she was glad she wasn't in that family (even though we have our fair share of those types of experiences). It made me smile.

There was a restaurant and boardwalk through a marsh close by our site so we had our first date! We had walleye, salad and fries. The marsh was a beautiful experience. I told Jenny "I don't think I've ever seen cattails, lily pads, and pine trees in the same scenery. Now that we get less dates together, we cherish the time a bit more. 

Overall thoughts: I find myself settling into this lifestyle and enjoying it a little more each week. I was initially worried about finding a rhythm, feeling productive, etc. I'm loving things. There are still moments that are difficult, and there are days I just find myself ornery and I don't really have a reason why. 

I continue to feel less rushed with just about anything. It really is beautiful to have the opportunity to experience life in this way. 

In the past, I have felt the need to read Stillness is the Key by Ryan Holiday, basically daily. It helped me to re-center, focus on mindfulness and what's important now. I haven't read it hardly at all so far. I find myself overall just feeling a lot of peace throughout each day. 

Whitewater State Park (SE Minnesota)

 So, we are about a month into our trip so far. I wanted to share a few observations/insights. 

• Patience: I have learned to be more patient. When you're living in a small space with a good size family, you have to learn to be patient with each other, and with yourself. Fortunately, we've been homeschooling for 3 years now so we've had a good amount of practice. It would be significantly more difficult going cold turkey, had we not done that. 

I've learned this the hard way. The more I'm in a hurry, the more frustrating things get. I think this applies to everything, dentistry too. The more you run behind, the more you feel stressed and try to hurry and make up time, and then it can cause you issues that then cost you even more time. 

I've learned even more so what things are and aren't a big deal. It's almost NEVER a big deal. We allow ourselves to get stressed out about small things.

• Adapt: You have to learn to adapt to different situations. When you're living somewhere different each week, you have to be able to adapt. You won't have the same gym, the same grocery stores, same environment, etc. It's great practice for being patient and learning to adapt. 

Our first few places we stayed had full hookups (electricity, water supply, sewer drainage). This is great because we don't have to budget ANYTHING (as far as those things are involved). We can do laundry as much as we want. Take showers twice a day, keep it super cold in the RV, etc. 

We just got to Whitewater State Park in SE Minnesota. I asked my wife a couple times if we were going to have full hookups so I could prepare if we didn't. She said she was sure we did. Well, we arrived, and only have electricity. So we had to debate what we were going to do. Ended figuring out that we could make it work. I had never filled the tank for dry camping (what you use if you don't have water supply) so I figured out how to do that, moved to our site, and we made our plans for how we'd make it work. 

Well, then the water pump didn't work, so we didn't have ANY water. We then developed another plan. We would only use the bathrooms and showers at the campground, would carry water to our RV once a day to heat it up and do our dishes. We made it work. 

Then I found the part broken on the pump and got it working again. So now we're back to having water. 

Anyway, point is, that might sound like a miserable experience, but I look at it as an investment. We are learning to overcome obstacles together as a family. We are adapting to our situation and conquering what's put in front of us. As challenging (and annoying and frustrating) as it is at times, it builds confidence.

I felt this feeling a bit when I went skydiving last year. I thought, "I conquered my biggest fear! I have nothing left in my way!"

• Money: It's really interesting to me that so far we've spent anywhere from $600 to $4,000 in a week. I personally, have probably felt the most peace and happiness during the $600 week. I am a man of fairly simple taste. But it's another great reminder to me that the most valuable thing money can bring is freedom of your time, rather than things that money can buy. 

Some sidenotes on the last couple weeks:

The kids made friends with this woman. She has been living out of tents and trailers for the last 15 years of her life. She was so kind and sweet, and great at enjoying the moment. Her and the kids enjoyed each other so much that we made plans to meet up with her in North Carolina in October. 

Each of the kids have been journaling. They haven't shared much with me personally yet at this point, but I'm hoping that they use this as a tool to work through emotions they have, and record their experiences.

This is the Mississippi River (after a lot of stairs on a hike)! One thing that has been amazing to me is that there are amazing, beautiful places everywhere we go. It's a bit of a lesson for me that you really don't need to travel to see beauty. I think the fun of travel is experiencing new things, but even that can be done at home. 

Chimney Rock at Whitewater.

I discovered Black Raspberries! They are so good! First time I had one I thought it tasted like candy (mabye it's because I'm a few months into a cut right now). They are similar to raspberries but a little more tart. 

We found a great spot along the road in the campground that was full of them!

Planning to have them with vanilla ice cream tonight!

Our Journey Thus Far

 We are ON THE ROAD! It was a LOT of work getting the practice sold, transitioning to Dr. Allen, selling the house, getting stuff moved into storage, trailer ready... whew!

So, we're trying to make videos of our trips but I wanted somewhere that I could journal a bit, and just write feelings and thoughts along the way (this is Derek). So I think I will use the blog for that. 

A few weeks before hitting the road I had an RV guy do some modifications that we are very happy that were done! This hole that was cut out allows us to access a big area we're using for storage. Very convenient addition. 

HOT SPRINGS, AR

This was our first stop. Here for a week. We enjoyed the campground a lot, was beautiful. This picture below was in the fordyce bathhouse museum. Was really interesting to learn about how Hot Springs became a destination area, and how people thought that the water had healing properties.

138 degrees F coming out of the springs...

Putting on our first stickers onto our travel map!

It's fun to realize that no matter where you are, there are beautiful things about each area. This was a lookout point in Hot Springs. 

Exercise: Jenny and I have been pushing still in our workouts, whether it's with our adjustable dumbells and bench with us, or going to Planet Fitness. Planet Fitness also allows you to bring a guest with you, so that means Ashlyn has been able to join us! She has been learning to push herself and is really enjoying learning how to lift weights. She really is an incredible girl that always enjoys learning and growing in some fashion. 

This was a hike at Catherine Lake State Park near Hot Springs. It was a fun little hike with a waterfall at the end. When asked their favorite part, the kids remarked that it was 'running back to the van in the rain!' We got pretty soaked at the end. 

It's funny to me how a lot of times the most memorable things are some of the uncomfortable situations in the moment. 

Jenny and I have still given each other some personal time each week. For my time (this was while in Branson, week #2) I chose to go trail running. It was 4 miles and absolutely beautiful. The trail went by Lake Taneycomo most of the way. I often feel the most peace and quiet in my life when I'm in nature. 

This is one of my clients, a dentist that practices in Rogers, AR. We met up with him and his family at Dogwood Nature Park. It was SO BEAUTIFUL. We spent the morning with them and after they left, we rented bikes and rode the 5 mile trail to the top of the park. There were waterfalls all along the way. 

Feeding the fish

These fish were HUNGRY! You'd throw some pellets in and they'd be jumping on top of each other to get it!

Discovered these two perched in their nest under a rock wall (at Dogwood). 

On the way riding our bikes down the trail at Dogwood, I became overwhelmed with the beauty and the togetherness of our family. It's an incredible opportunity to venture out on a long trip like this. I'm so grateful for it. 

Much of it is still normal life (shopping, cleaning, schoolwork, etc.). But there are these absolutely beautiful moments (that also happen during normal life) where you just really appreciate the beauty and the peace. That's what I have experienced a few times and so far, they're always in places of quiet and nature. 

A lookout point in Branson, MO. 

The Titanic Musem in Branson was a hit! We all enjoyed it and ended up watching the movie afterward. The kids really enjoyed learning about the ship and the kids aboard (135 children died on the Titanic). 

Andy's Custard! This was every missionary's dream in my mission, to have an Andy's in your area. 

Garvan Gardens in Hot Springs was so beautiful. This 'outdoor' looking cathedral was so beautiful. So much of it was glass that you feel like you're outside when you're in it. 

We did a zipline together as a family at the campground in Hot Springs. The kids loved it and all did great! I was a little nervouse how the three youngest would do. But Claire volunteered to go first and didn't even hesitate! So everyone after that just followed suit.

We have been playing around with our schedule as far as when to go and do things, when to work on school, have alone time, etc. It's definitely a work in progress. So far, we take advantage of rainy days by doing homeschool. We also usually do homeschool and stick 'close to home' on Saturdays and Sundays when it's busier in the city. 

I (Derek) have been able to be more involved and overall I'm enjoying it. I'm really enjoying helping the kids understand more history (and learning it myself) as we travel through different areas. I'm very interested in how the United States territories were formed. So just the last week or two we've been studying the French Indian War, the Louisianna Purchase, and Lewis and Clark. It's really been cool. 

The Buffalo River: this was so fun! We spent about 5 hours kayaking and canoeing down the Buffalo River. It was about a 90 min drive from Branson, MO. I downloaded a documentary about the Buffalo River that we watched on the way there and it put a lot it in perspective while we were there. 

The kids all did great. Desi had a hard time kayaking on her own but the older 3 loved it (and Jenny). We found a creek that empties into the Buffalo where we were able to walk up and explore about a 1/2 mile or so. We sat down in the creek at one point and when we got up we were covered in probably 50 tiny leeches (Jenny, Brinley and I). They were harmless. But about an hour later, I told Jenny that my butt was itching sooo bad and I was convinced that the leeches were in my shorts sucking my blood on my butt. I had Jenny check and she verified that I was clean and just getting 'itchy butt' from sitting in my wet swimsuit in the canoe for several hours. Hahah.

We visited Grant's Farm here in St. Louis. This farm was owned by Ulysses S. Grant and purchased by Anheiser-Busch. This was a really neat place, lots of animals. 

They had free beer samples. I had my first Bud Light. 

We were able to see the Clydesdales that you see in the Budweiser commercials. If you can read below, you'll learn the history of the Clydesdales. They delivered the first case of 'post-prohibition Budweiser' to the Whitehouse. And they've been part of the company ever since.

Overall, we're very happy and enjoying things. Definitely different parts that are a learning experience. But we've had a few years to get used to using the trailer, living in it when we remodeled, and years of considering what it might be like to live this lifestyle.